


Find a Penny, Pick Her Up

by Evangelos5647



Category: Splatoon
Genre: Angst, Awkwardness, Blood, Depression, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Explicit Language, F/F, Gay, Grizzco, Ill add more tags as I go along, Lesbian Character, Non-Graphic Violence, Relationship Problems, Slow Burn, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-12
Updated: 2018-09-20
Packaged: 2019-02-01 02:09:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 16,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12694872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evangelos5647/pseuds/Evangelos5647
Summary: When you find a penny, it's usually a sign of good luck. This Penny felt like she was the opposite; something about her would drive people away, like a bad luck charm. When Turf War couldn't pay the bills, Grizzco seemed like a promising alternative.





	1. Peachy

**Author's Note:**

> Howdy, this is my first fanfic, hopefully it isn't too unbearable. Here's a few notes to get started:  
> Quotes in _"italics"_ represent a character's inner thoughts.  
>  Formatting might be weird for a bit since I'm still learning how to use this site, please forgive me.  
> I accept constructive criticism and will take it into consideration, hopefully to better myself as a writer.  
> I'll try to post at least twice a month. Enjoy!  
> 

At first, Penny Pitaya didn't think the job would be too hard. Salmon Run: just splat some fish, splat some even bigger fish and take their eggs, dunk said eggs in the basket, rinse and repeat until the boss is happy. She thought maybe this would be good enough training for her to get back into Turf War. Turf paid better than Grizzco after all, unless you were on a never-ending losing streak like she was. After Grizzco first hired her, for the first time in what felt like forever, she felt a sliver of hope. Maybe things would turn out okay. For once, life might go on how she wanted it to.

 _“How wrong I was.”_ She thought to herself.

Wide lime-green eyes darted back and forth in a fit of panic, the pale Inkling girl searched for a potential escape route from the inevitable pummeling she’d receive from the Salmonid in her path. The slow and large Cohock loomed over her, its own maniacal red eyes stared back as its massive form inched closer, oozing green sludge onto the ground as it drew near while brandishing an oversized frying pan. The Inkling’s finger stirred over the trigger of her Luna Blaster, a distinct and foreboding click met her ears as she tried to fire. Empty. With no friendly ink on the ground, her own ink tank running dry, and not a single one of her teammates in sight, Penny couldn’t fight her way out of this. So she tackled this conundrum in the same manner she did with any other problem:

She ran away.

Bolting straight away from the Cohock led Penny further into territory that hadn’t been inked by her teammates. She was on Marooner’s Bay and it was low tide, she ran along a long beach of gravel onto a concrete dock stretching out into the ocean. Her bee-line from the creature only drew her to the end of the dock; a sheer drop into the murky water. Her boots were caught in the green sludge, making her lose her footing and fall over, nearly rolling off the jetty. Luckily, the enemy ink provided enough resistance to stop the girl from tumbling to a watery demise. However the same couldn’t be said about her Grizzco issued Luna Blaster, which plummeted into the water with a pathetic splash. 

_“Oh Cod, Mr. Grizz is going to be so mad… That’s definitely coming out of my paycheck.”_ She winced.

Unable to regain her footing, Penny scuttled backwards as far as she could from the swarm of Salmonids that had congregated behind her. The loud clanging of their pots and pans served as an appropriate preamble to her certain doom… That would only be true if she didn’t remember the “last resort” technique all Grizzco employees were taught in their training course.

Quickly, she reached for her head trying to grab one of the Special Weapon MRE packets adorned to her hat. Only feeling one remaining, she groaned.

_“Carp, that’s right! I only had time to grab just one before we got off the ship. If Tara wasn't yelling at us to hurry I would have grabbed both!”_

She hastily brought the silver packet to eye level. She wasn't entirely new to Salmon Run; only about three and a half weeks into employment. However she actually wasn't sure what caused the Special Weapon MREs to activate upon consumption. The curiosity got to her, and out of any moment possible she chose now to read the packaging for the first time. A brief glance at the label read, “LAUNCHER, SPLAT BOMB, TYPE 1. DIRECTIONS: PEEL TOP OF PACKET ACROSS THE TEAR. SQUEEZE ENTIRE CONTENTS OF PACKET INTO MOUTH-”

Penny’s inspection of the MRE was cut short as a Salmonid Chum swiped at her head with the edge of a rusty frying pan. Her vision went bright for a moment, and a high-pitched whine rang in her ears as she felt a sharp pain across her temple, followed by the sensation of an imminent migraine or maybe even a concussion. In a moment of dazed fear Penny desperately kicked the Chum away.

She was running out of time, the swarm was just upon her. With trembling hands she sloppily tore the packet open and chugged its gooey contents. As soon as she swallowed the artificial peach flavored paste, her pink tentacles lit up with a fiery energy and her ink tank was refilled in an instant. With a battle cry equally as desperate as her kick, she haphazardly lobbed a volley of bombs at the imposing horde, culling their numbers in seconds. Malicious Salmonids were blasted into green puddles of goo as one bomb after the other exploded in a spectacular shower of pink. The towering Cohock that got Penny in this mess in the first place popped like an overfilled water balloon. The immediate threat of being swarmed was over; the mob had been decimated by her bomb rush.

In the calm after the storm her breathing had become ragged and sharp, every breath pierced her lungs like a dagger between her ribs. Plagued by asthma her whole life, she went nowhere without her neon pink inhaler. It's seen some wear and tear over the course of several years, but it never failed to help when she needed it. With the medicine kicking in, Penny gave a heavy sigh of relief and rubbed the side of her head to soothe the pain. Bringing her hand away from her skull, she found the palm of her glove was stained with a smear of incredibly dark pink. Bringing her other hand to her temple and dragging down revealed a new, and even heavier streak of her own pink blood; its magenta hue clashed sharply against the dark teal of rubber glove. 

Her lime-green eyes went wide at the sight of her own blood. She had already known about the occupational hazards at Grizzco, hell the whole job description screamed “HAZARD,” but she didn't think she'd have her own blood drawn so soon into employment. Despite the medicine from her inhaler, Penny's breathing went ragged once more. The girl began to tremble as she stared helplessly at her palms. In a panic she tried to wipe the fluid off her hands onto her overalls, but this only made her look like a butcher in meat shop after a long day’s work. Needless to say it wasn't a good look.

_“Where is everyone?! I've dropped my blaster, I'm out of special packets, I'm having an asthma attack, I probably have a concussion, and I'm bleeding out in a pile of Salmonid ink! If they're all down I might actually die…”_

During her panicked inner monologue, Penny remained totally oblivious to the targeting reticule pointed at her. It wasn’t until the whistling sound of rockets met her ears that Penny realized she was being attacked by a Flyfish. Before she could even think about rolling out of the way, the rockets landed on her and exploded in a splash of deep green. The searing pain of foreign ink all over her body lasted only for a second, until her vision went dark and she felt nothing.


	2. That's a Wrap

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Penny wakes up and is met with some hostility.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 is here early! I might make some edits here and there as time goes on (not even just this chapter, the whole fic probably) so keep that in mind if something seems different later. Expect chapter 3 any time before Saturday next week!

After what seemed like a mere instant of dark and empty unconsciousness, Penny was roused by a surge of friendly ink washing over her. She opened her eyes only to see the night sky above her, splotched with tiny bright stars, grey clouds, and the distant moon peeking from the shoreline. The last thing she remembered was the intense sunset in her eyes as Flyfish missiles rocketed at her from above, so she'd definitely been out for a while. Penny was lying on the deck of the Grizzco drop off ship still wearing her blood-stained uniform, drenched in the friendly pink-tinged ink that brought her back. Despite her temple still stinging after being struck by the Chum and her body still sore from the Flyfish’s missile attack, she was just grateful that she even woke up at all. Not so grateful was one of her teammates.

A fair skinned, lean Inkling girl of an athletic build was standing over her with a slosher dripping ink onto Penny’s head. The girl had bright orange tentacles that nearly touched the ground, and silver eyes as sharp as daggers.

“This is the third time in a row we've failed to meet our quota… by the way you're still bleeding.” The girl hissed as she kicked a first-aid kit towards Penny.

“Wait, what?! We missed our quota again? What happened?” Penny quizzed as she pulled disinfectant and bandages from the metal container.

“What do you think happened? We wiped out.”

The Inkling standing above her was Tara Conch, the self-imposed leader of their Salmon Run team, and the provocateur of many grievances for Penny.

“You and I were the last two standing; Niall and Basil were attacked by a Steel Eel. Suddenly out of nowhere you ran straight away from a Cohock, I tried to catch up but I was cut off by the same Steel Eel. Meanwhile, you wasted your Special on a puny horde of Chum and Smallfry. Shortly after, you were blasted into smithereens by a Flyfish’s missile attack and I was eventually overwhelmed.”

“I’m sorry Tara, I… I just panicked and tried to get away. I tripped and my Blaster fell in the water, so I had to use my Special and-” Penny’s explanation was cut short by her teammate.

“So that’s where your weapon went. You realize Mr. Grizz won’t be happy with any of us when we get back to HQ?”

“Yeah, I kinda figured as much. That Blaster’s probably gonna come out of my paycheck…” Penny gave a weak chuckle, which only made Tara grimace in contempt.

“I don’t see why you’re having a giggle right now, Mr. Grizz is gonna have us for a Sashimi dinner if we keep screwing up our jobs! I'd be more worried about him rather than getting smacked around by a Cohock! Where did you even get that gash from anyways? The Salmonids don't carry knives around, do they?”

“A Chum got me with a frying pan.”

“It was just a Chum?” Tara had to stop to think for a moment. She turned to Penny with a razor's edge to her gaze.  
“If it wasn’t for you we’d all be profreshionals by now but here we are stuck as part-timers, probably about to receive a pay cut. Maybe even a demotion if Mr. Grizz is especially dissatisfied with our performance!”

Tara’s scorn started digging a pit down in Penny’s gut. She’d been chewed out by Tara more times than she can count in the short period they'd been working together, yet every time she did the words would sting like foreign ink under Penny's skin.

 _"I should be used to this by now."_ She thought.

It wasn't just Tara who did all the scolding; most people Penny got to know would eventually gave her a hard time for her shortcomings. It all started when she moved out to Inkopolis in the first place. She seemed to have a knack for failing to meet expectations here, the nonstop chastisement that always came from other people after every mistake eventually whittled away Penny’s emotional fortitude.

After about a year in Inkopolis, she began staying in her apartment more often, she stopped playing Turf Wars daily, and totally quit Ranked Battles all together. Not playing Turf every day couldn't pay for the expensive lofts in Inkopolis, so she had to move south to the Mollusk District. After holding out alright there for two years, staying out of practice caused her seemingly endless losing streak to begin. Turf couldn't even pay rent there anymore, Grizzco was her only choice.

The very few friends she had eventually lost contact with her, be it on their terms or Penny’s own negligence to keep in touch. Not even Splatfests could consistently lure her out from the comforting solitude of her apartment. Living on her own was both a blessing and curse: on one hand the seclusion meant there was no need to interact with the people she would inevitably upset. On the other hand, rent was considerably harder to keep up with.

Not to mention it became terribly lonely.

This was her life now. Ever since she moved away from home in Calamari County, she had grown accustomed to being the emotional punching bag of her peers, never fighting back or making an issue of it. And like getting punched in the gut, their words made her stomach turn.

Stuck in her own train of thought, Penny had spaced out from Tara’s lecture, until the Inkling yelled, “Are you even listening to me?!”

Penny regained focus and looked up blankly at Tara, who’s eyebrows furrowed with frustration.

“It’s like everything I say goes in one ear and out the other. We’ve only been working for barely a month and you're already screwing up everything. Get your act together fast or we’re all gonna be unemployed because of you.”

Penny looked away from Tara, the wrenching feeling in her stomach was only made worse by the thought of losing her job. Grizzco was the only thing keeping her afloat; if she lost her job then she’d lose her apartment and have to live on the streets like a rat. The situation with her family back home wasn’t ideal so she really had no fallback plan if unemployment was the case. She could always try going back to Turf, but the meager cash from losing streaks wouldn’t be enough for the apartment. She needed Grizzco.

In an unsteady manner she stood herself up; legs still weak from the attack earlier, a fresh bandage wrapped around her head just above her left eyebrow, soaking up a bloody stream. Continuing to avoid eye contact with the silver-eyed girl, Penny walked past her towards the back of the ship.

“Okay… I’ll get better.” She muttered in a despondent tone.

Tara gave a heavy sigh, crossing her arms and marching into the cabin of the boat, slamming the door behind her. Penny knew the words rang hollow with Tara, carrying no real meaning. She also knew nothing was going to get any better, the girl was doomed to disappoint no matter how hard she tried. As Penny walked past the cabin, through the window she could see Tara talking to her other two teammates. Two boys; one looking awfully disinterested and more focused on his book, the other looking mildly concerned at whatever Tara was saying. The distraught Inkling gave a quick glance at Penny through the window, then back at Tara with disdain as she visibly continued ranting. With spirits as grey as the sky above and sorrow running as deep as the ocean below, Penny made for the back of the boat.

_"Yeah, I'll get better… as soon as hell freezes over."_


	3. Rainfall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Penny admires the rain until a co-worker strikes up a conversation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wonder how long this streak of posting early is gonna last. This chapter is a bit longer than the previous ones but honestly I think that's for the better. I'd rather post longer chapters once per week than several short ones, tell me how you guys feel in the comments. Enjoy!

Penny perched herself up onto the wall of the ship, letting her legs dangle over the hull above the murky water. It was stable enough to not have to worry about falling overboard, and the view of the cloudy night sky wasn’t bad either. Stars shimmered like incandescent light bulbs and the moon had just risen over the horizon, shining down like one gigantic flood light. Penny was indeed a night owl, always preferring after-hours Turf Wars when she did play, or more recently staying up until the wee hours of the night browsing the net and reading creepy stories online. Unfortunately with her job at Grizzco, that had to change. Some days she had to work nine-till-five, other days she’d work two-to-ten. It was a mixed bag, depending on when the Salmonids were most active and which Salmon Run crews were available.

Only a few minutes after resting on the wall of the boat, the dark clouds drifted overhead, covering the moon and stars like a blanket and dropping a payload of rain onto the deck. Luckily for Penny it’s saltwater that Inklings can’t survive in, not the freshwater that comes from rain clouds. Considering how much she adored the rain, the girl took bliss from the downpour that ensued.

On nights that it rained she’d simply sit a chair next to her bedroom window and watch outside, not thinking about anything in particular, but just observing the world. The city lights obscured by the fog, the pitter-patter of rain droplets hitting the window, her favorite part being when bolts of lightning would illuminate the sky in a spectacular flash and the roar of thunder following after. She'd observe the city folk running through the downpour trying not to get drenched. Inklings and Octolings on their way to work, students giggling as they ran while carrying their school bags over their heads like helmets. Or couples walking hand-in-hand romantically together under a Splat Brella. It was all so calming to Penny, it was her own vicarious escape from the troubles that plagued her life every day. For a couple minutes, or if she’s lucky; an hour, she could forget about rent, or work, or getting scolded by her peers, or even the crushing loneliness that came with living by herself. It’s as if all her problems were washed away by the rain. Unfortunately, once the rain dried out those issues would surely crawl back up to haunt her subconscious once more.

As Penny admired the rain, she heard the door to the cabin creak open, its wood and wire mesh structure gave a distinctive slam against the doorframe as it closed.

 _“Tara’s probably coming to yell at me to get inside. Would it kill her to let me enjoy the rain for a few minutes?”_ Penny thought to herself. 

She gave a deep sigh and sulked forward as wet footsteps approached from behind her. They stopped about four feet away, and instead of Tara’s loud and domineering voice, Penny heard a distinctly genial voice from behind her.

“Hey Penny, how's it hangin'?” The voice asked.

Penny turned her head to the right just enough to see the Inkling in question. A boy of average build and stature, beige skin with brown eyes and a low, green ponytail. It was her co-worker Niall Cass, his cheerful personality and friendly demeanor was a pleasant alternative to Tara’s snobbish attitude. Even though Penny really didn’t want to talk, Niall was the least unpleasant person on the crew. It could've be worse.

_“I can probably put up a front for a little bit until Niall’s done. When in doubt, fake it out.”_ She's fallen back on that catchphrase more times than she can remember. 

Lying through her teeth Penny said, “I’m doing okay Niall. What’s up?”

“I heard Tara was chewing you out again, that must be rough. She needs to lay off once in awhile, maybe take a chill pill or somethin'.”

Penny replied with a disheartened hum, still staring at the skyline.

Mocking Tara’s conceited inflection, Niall yelled, “Look everyone, it's me Tara Conch! I’m S rank and I got top marks in the training course, I'm so great! I've got nothing else to do besides showing off and criticizing my co-workers! Did I mention I’m S rank? Bleh bleh bleh!”

Penny gave a genuine chuckle at Niall’s charade, something she hadn’t done since she started working here. 

Still with a giggle in her voice, Penny turned around fully and replied, “You make a good point there Niall… But she's got a reason to complain.”

“What do you- WOAH what happened to your head?!”

The bandage bared a visible bloodstain from the wound beneath; it had seeped outwards in a shape resembling a line as more and more blood trickled out slowly. Seeing Niall drop his act so quickly to take note of her head wound kind of struck a nerve with her. She didn't need another reminder of her careless mistake, certainly the scar that would be left behind could do that job for the rest of her life, yet here we are.

Penny replied, “A Chum got me with its frying pan.”

“Yikes, talk about a splittin' headache.”

“Tell me about it.” She gave a little smirk at the boy standing behind her, slightly amused by his joke.

Niall continued, “So what do you mean Tara has a reason to complain?”

Penny paused for a moment. She tucked her legs against her torso and crossed her arms over her knees, staring away from Niall towards the ocean again. She answered him with an uncanny confidence that seemed almost fabricated.

Keeping the snicker in her voice at first, “She’s right about me. I’m not cut out for this job. I’m not even good enough for Turf War. I’m just… holding you guys back.” Her chirpy demeanor had washed away with the rain by the end of her statement, leaving only a hollow emptiness to her voice.

“Well that’s not entirely true. We’re all relatively new to this Salmon Run thing. Basil and I both got pulverized by a Steel Eel, then you and Tara were swarmed. It's an occupational hazard.”

She spoke with a voice flooded in regret, “Yeah, but if I didn’t panic over a Cohock we wouldn’t have wiped out.” Still facing the ocean, she raised her left hand and pointed at the bandage covering her skull. “This - this is an occupational hazard I wasn't prepared for.”

The front she was trying to put up had started to show some cracks in its foundation. 

Trying to stay jovial Niall replied, “Even I gotta admit, those guys give me creeps. Don’t feel too bad about the Cohocks. And it's not rare for us to get scuffs here and there, I heard someone lost their eye at this place last year, a gash on the head is like nothin’.”

 _"That's not what I would call encouraging."_ The thought of losing an eye made Penny cringe; if the pan had struck her just an inch or two lower she very well could have lost one.

Not responding to Niall's comment, Penny continued, “I just don’t want to be a hindrance to you guys… Like Tara said, you’d be profreshionals by now if it weren’t for me.”

She was falling down the rabbit hole now. Knowing that she was the sole cause of her team’s suffering, Penny felt the pit Tara had started was being dug deeper into the ground. A bottomless chasm filled to the brim with self-doubt, unbridled guilt, and melancholy.

_“They don't deserve this. I don't want this for my friends.”_

She stopped herself, did she really think of them as friends just now? Her co-workers she had only met about three weeks ago? Was she really so starved of social interaction that her brain defaulted to the designation of friend for these people? One of which hates her guts and probably wants her dead, one who is totally indifferent and could care less if she rolled over and died, and the last one giving her the pity-pep-talk right now?

_“That's just sad. Pathetic, even.”_

Her pretense had completely shattered at this point like a rock through a window. Penny shut her eyes tightly, trying to fight imminent tears. Loud enough for Niall to hear over the rain she whispered, “I should just quit now. Save you guys the trouble…“

With a start Niall retorted, “Hey hey, no one said anything about quitting! We all screw up here and there, but you can’t give up already! Jeez, forget what Tara says, I’m sure she’ll come around eventually. We’ve only been working for barely a month now, there’s a kind of learning curve to this Salmon Run thing. We just gotta get past it together and it’ll be smooth sailing from there!”

Penny wasn't used to such positive reinforcement, she almost didn't know how to react. She couldn't tell if Niall was saying all of this out of pity or out of a genuine belief that she could succeed. Either way, she decided the best course of action would be to feign confidence again. It's worked for her before so why fix what isn't broken? She didn't want this to go on any longer than it needed to. 

She sniffled as she stopped the cascade of tears from pouring out. “You could be right, Niall. Maybe there is just some learning curve I need to get over.”

“Yeah! We'll help you out along the way however we can. We're friends after all!” Niall rejoiced.

 _“Friends?”_ Penny couldn’t believe it, this all had to be some kind of elaborate farce in a vain attempt to shut her up and make her feel better. Surely Niall wouldn’t consider her as more than just a work companion. It had been a few years since someone has actually called her ‘friend’ out loud.

Still keeping up her cheerful facade, Penny continued. “Thanks for the pep talk Niall, it really helped.” 

In actuality it barely helped at all. All it did was raise some questions and left her feeling worse than before.

“Hey, no worries!” Niall scratched the back of his head, letting off a small chuckle.

After a moment, the rain began to pick up, bombarding the two Inklings with even heavier raindrops that stung as they landed.

“Hey, you wanna step back into the cabin with us? We got a bit of a ways back to HQ and this rain is getting pretty gnarly.” Niall let out his hand, an offer to help her safely climb off the wall of the boat.

Penny turned to him for moment, contemplating his offer. The cold rain continued to fall, soaking her bandage and biting at Niall’s open palm. Another moment, she turned back around to face the ocean, leaving his gesture unreciprocated.

“Maybe in a bit. I'm alright.” She lied.

Niall frowned, somberly lowering his hand and resting it in the pocket of his uniform.

“I, uh- oh… alright then. You know where to find me!” Only for a moment did his happy-go-lucky outlook falter.

He shuffled his way back to to the cabin, the familiar noise of the door closing was barely audible over the heavy rain. Getting pelted by raindrops that stung like pins and needles, Penny gave a dispirited sigh. Some raindrops of her own started to pour from her eyes; they warmed her cold and pale cheeks as they streamed down her face. They didn’t hurt as much as the cold torrent from above, but they sure as hell didn't feel good.

_“I don't think you would want to be my friend, Niall.”_


	4. The Wipeout Crew

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boat sets sail back to HQ.

It was around 10 PM by the time the boat sailed away from the spawning grounds. Penny kept her promise to stay outside for about fifteen more minutes before the rain came crashing down even harder. Basic survival instincts told her to get somewhere warm, fast. Inside the cabin was Tara, planted at a desk with the internal components of what looked like an E-Liter 4K strewn across its surface. A screwdriver and some cleaning solution sat near the edge of the table as she polished the metallic barrel of the charger with a small towelette, her headphones blasting audible, yet indistinguishable music to keep out the sound. Niall was asleep, sprawled along a cushioned bench in the back of the cabin. His arm swung back and forth limply off the side of the cushion, matching the sway of the boat like a metronome. The muffled sound of crashing waves and roaring thunder were interspersed with his quiet snores.

“Hey Penny, could you wake him up?” A serene voice asked from right beside her.

Jumping from the small shock, Penny turned to her immediate right to find her third coworker Basil Arròs perched against the wall right next to the doorframe. His alabaster skin and bright earrings contrasted sharply with the jet black hair that fell past his shoulders like a mop. His bangs drooped over one of his deep blue eyes, the other eye hadn’t broken focus from the book he was reading; “Ninjas of Love” or something of that variety. The cover art in combination with the title didn’t leave a whole lot to the imagination.

Still a bit shaken from the scare, Penny said, “Uh…okay, sure. Is Niall alright?”

“Probably.” His uncovered eye continued scouring the book’s content, not looking away to affirm Niall’s well being.

In addition to his detached and cold demeanor, Basil was incredibly soft spoken and quiet. So rarely would he vocalize that Penny often found herself forgetting he’s even there, like she had just now.

Taking heed of Basil’s request she headed towards the back of the cabin, passing Tara’s workstation on the way. At least thirty or so individual pieces lay on the wooden tabletop, gently rolling to and fro in rhythm to the boat’s own movement. A few components were stained with dirt and grime; remnants of ink that hadn’t evaporated stuck in small nooks and crannies, scuffs and scratch marks coated the surface of bigger pieces like the weapon’s polymer foregrip and its handle. On the other side of the table were parts that had been scrubbed and polished to a mirror sheen, looking almost fresh from the factory. 

Penny saw her own warped visage from the reflection of the shiny chrome pressurizer; she was soaked and shivering, her eyes had gone bloodshot from crying and the dark pink bloodstain on her bandage grew even wider and darker. Her teal overalls bared a similarly stark bloodstain across its surface. _“It’s going to take more than twenty minutes in the rain to wash that out.”_ Realistically there was no hope of the blood washing out ever, no laundromat in Inkopolis is **that** good. Needless to say she looked disastrous, as if she was dragged through hell by the tentacles and spat back out onto this dingy boat. While she observed her torn down look, her eyes met Tara’s through the mirror. The young prodigy glared back and frowned at Penny through the reflection as she continued working.

Finally making it to the back of the cabin, she gave a short but gentle tap on Niall’s shoulder, being met only with a loud snore from the boy. She turned to Basil and shrugged, hoping he would take the initiative and wake Niall himself. He finally broke eye contact with his book and glanced back at her.

“You gotta try harder than that.” Unmoving, he returned his attention to the questionable story.

_“Wow, thanks for the help Basil. Enjoy your smut…”_

Fueled by petty frustration she gave a very weak shove at Niall’s shoulder, his eyes peeled open to the sight of a very worn out and slightly irritated pink haired Inkling.

“Oh Cod, sorry did you need to sit here?!” Niall shot up, scooching himself to one edge of the seat leaving plenty of space for Penny to sit.

She briefly considered sitting at the same bench with Niall. Part of her wanted to just hide in the bathroom until the ride was over, that way she didn’t have to stick around and burden anybody with her presence. However, she was cold, tired and simply didn’t have the energy to mosey down a flight of stairs to sit in the latrines for an hour. Accepting this fate she occupied the opposite end of the seat, huddling herself to keep warm while she sank into the red leather cushion.

“Sorry, Pen! I was trying to catch some Z’s. I’ll try not to take up the whole bench next time.”

 _“Pen? What’s with that nickname?”_ She decided to save that question for a different time, or probably never. It didn’t honestly matter, what mattered now was getting warm before she lost feeling in her fingers.

“Don’t worry about it.” She mumbled, burying her face into her crossed arms and tucked legs in hope to retain any body heat she had left.

From the corner of the room Basil slowly stood up from the floor, marking a page in his raunchy book with a grey feather. After a quick stretch he sulked his way towards the now empty spot in the middle of the bench.

“Thanks for waking him up.”

 _“I sat at the opposite end of the bench for a reason damn it! I didn’t want to have to sit next to anybody.”_ Penny yelled internally.

“You could have just asked me to get up, Baz.” Niall chuckled and elbowed Basil as he took a seat.

“I couldn’t be bothered.”

“So you made Penny do it?”

“She had just come in and was already standing up.” Basil opened up the impure tome once more, getting comfortable in the seat between his jovial friend and weary coworker.

“Jeez Baz, I didn’t realize you were that THAT lazy.”

“Well now you know. Also I don’t think the new nicknames are going to catch on.”

 _“I can at least agree on that.”_ Penny noted to herself, she really had no idea why Niall was throwing out nicknames like a bomb rush all of a sudden.

“Aw come on, they’re fresh as heck.” Niall argued.

“I’ve heard Baz and Pen so far, but what about Tara and yourself?” Basil pondered.

“Tar and Nye! Sounds cool, right?!”

“No, not really.”

Tara pivoted her head to shoot a quick face at Niall, and then one to Penny that read something like, “Did you really have to wake him up?” as she visibly cranked the volume on her headphones even higher.

Unable to really give a damn, Penny tuned out the boys and rested her elbow on the arm of the chair, lying her head against her upraised hand. Her temple rippled with a dull pain against the touch of her palm, her wound still needed more time to close up under that bandage. After finally calming her senses down somewhere stable, Penny noticed the torrents of dull pain that had been pulsating from under her ribs. They traveled in waves across her entire body all the way to the cold tips of her fingers.

_“That must have been where the missile actually hit. Am I so out of it that I took this long to notice?”_

Ignoring the pain and unable to find an answer to her own question, she found herself starting to doze off as Niall and and Basil’s argument raged on.

“… I don’t think Mr. Grizz appoints team names, especially one like “Salmonid Assault Division.”

Niall retorts, “Come on it’d be super easy to remember! Team S.A.D.!… Hm, now that I say it out loud it doesn’t sound as cool.”

Still vigorously polishing the barrel of her rifle, Tara shouted over her music, “How about The Wipeout Crew?! That’s all you seem to be good at.” The conversation screeched to a halt right there. Tara had raised the tension in the room from zero to a hundred.

Team S.A.D., Wipe Out Crew, it was almost funny how appropriate these rhetorical team names were. Despite all the negativity in the air Penny just wanted to ignore it and catch some Z’s of her own. Her weary eyes inched shut as the warm interior of the cabin and soft cushions of the bench lulled her into a much needed nap.


	5. Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew arrives back at HQ. Tara has a word with Penny, and Niall gives another pep-talk.

After about an hour of sailing over the murky waters, the crew finally arrived back at Inkopolis’s own Grizzco headquarters. As they disembarked from the ship, the familiar and dilapidated wooden docks creaked under the team’s collective footsteps; the jetty had grown rickety and almost dangerous thanks to years of abuse and inadequate steering of the drop off ships. Old rusty nails and frayed rope barely held the entire assembly together as Penny wondered, _“If and when this thing collapses under my feet, how long do I have before I die? Ten seconds? Five seconds? Not even one? For whatever reason, I’m sure the saltwater here is twice as deadly than it is on any other shoreline. Who knows what Mr. Grizz does with this place when no one’s around?”_

Tara lead the pack through the docks into the main facility, being followed by Niall and Basil having a one-sided conversation, and Penny lagging a short distance behind. The cluttered interior was a cold and dimly lit box of steel; wires and ropes were suspended from the ceiling along with incandescent light bulbs and a small neon sign affixed over the door frame. A net filled to the brim with slimy power eggs hung over a large plastic tub with a water hose running through the lid. Inside the tub were yet more power eggs that someone hadn’t gotten around to cleaning just yet. Surely another employee was slacking off, or just said “screw it” and left the company like any other reasonable person would. 

The way Penny saw it, no one in this crew was reasonable.

The quadruple monitor hanging along the east wall displayed on its bright screens in order: a seemingly endless loop of made-for-TV recruitment commercials for Grizzco, live security footage of the reward window outside the HQ’s entrance, the Inkopolis News broadcast with Off the Hook’s Pearl and Marina, and the last screen just playing static and white noise. Distracted by the video boxes, Penny stumbled over a steel grate on the floor after she barely ducked her head under a large rusty hook hanging from above.

_“If the Salmonids don’t kill me this place sure will.”_ Penny seemed to have her own mortality in mind lately, perhaps a byproduct of being blown up earlier. If it wasn’t for her Grizzco issued life preserver she never would have woken up from the blast. Sadly, outside of work or Turf battles she doesn’t have the luxury of simply getting back up after a lethal scuff; no respawn point to jump back to and no floatation device to keep her from meeting a grizzly fate.

Speaking of grizzly, a small, walnut brown wooden statue of a grizzly bear biting down on a salmon was perched atop a large drink cooler. The ornament was in fact not just a tacky paperweight, but was indeed a two-way radio! A fact that scared Penny half to death when she first came to apply. The giant antenna sticking out its back should have been an obvious giveaway, but she was never told the interview was going to be done over shortwave radio.

The crackle of static blared from the statue for a moment until it went silent again. Suddenly the deep and gravelly voice of their boss came through with an audible and heavy sigh. The rain gave way to a tinge of interference, but his voice was still loud and clear enough for his employees to understand. “Another crew wipe, huh? Let’s see how many Golden Eggs ya got this time.”

The short pause while he counted had left Penny worried, she couldn’t actually remember how many Golden Eggs they had collected that shift. _“Twenty? Thirty? The quota was about thirty-six, and we obviously didn’t grab that many.”_

The boss’s voice crackled back on like a bolt of lightning. “Only nineteen eggs?! Yeesh, what do I pay ya kids for?” Another deep exhale ridden in disappointment came from the foreboding statue. Penny’s eyes darted back and forth in worry, expecting her teammates to start ripping her apart over their horrific performance. Instead, their focus remained unbroken from the statue. The only sign of dissatisfaction was from Tara (obviously), shifting her weight to the other leg and crossing her arms.

“… Listen guys n’ gals, I hate to be the ‘bearer’ of bad news, but ya need to get yer acts together if ya wanna get promoted. I got plenty of spots open for some more Go-Getters, but yer still gonna stay Part-Timers for now. I’m not gonna cut yer pay or nothin’ but I don’t wanna see this kinda performance again, capiche? Yer pay’s at the window outside, ya know the drill. Be seein’ ya Wednesday.”

The speaker gave another crinkle of static before the signal went quiet for good, leaving the crew in deafening silence. Before Penny could even think about leaving, Tara swung around and lurched in close, too close; Penny's personal bubble was violently popped by the daggers in her coworker’s metallic grey eyes. Despite only being eighteen, a year younger than Penny, Tara was a solid few inches taller, and her athletic build made for a more intimidating silhouette. Being looked down upon in the literal sense had Penny feeling spineless and feeble, at least more so than usual.

Tara quickly shot a finger into the poor girl’s chest with enough force to push her off balance. With sharp and vicious malice in her voice Tara whispered, “You are SO lucky we didn’t get demoted…” She creeped in closer, her lips so close to girl’s ears that she could bite them off faster than Penny could blink. Away from the prying ears of the two boys, the taller girl whispered in absolute secrecy, “… If we wipe out even one more time this week, mark my words Penny Pitaya, **I will fucking ruin you.”**

With that, Tara released Penny from her death grip and stormed out of the lobby towards the locker rooms. After a moment Basil gave an exasperated sigh, muttering to himself and following suit, heading for the boy’s locker rooms. Whether he was dissatisfied with Tara’s behavior or just didn’t give a carp and wanted to go home remained a mystery. It was just Penny and Niall left alone in the dirty and shambolic room, the crippling and awkward silence being accentuated by heavy raindrops hitting the tin roof with small and harmonic thuds.

Penny herself was speechless; her peer had never lashed out so violently like she did just now. She was used to warnings like, “Don’t screw us over,” or “Get your act together,” but Tara had never gone so far as to say, “I will fucking ruin you.” The shock left the girl’s mind blank, almost catatonic, until Niall’s voice grabbed her attention, breaking the monotony of the pitter-patter coming from the roof.

“Hey. Penny, you alright?”

She wasn’t alright, she hasn’t been this bad off in a while. She couldn’t snap out of this stupor completely. Niall’s words were registering with her, but she couldn’t find the words to respond, she couldn’t find any emotions to express. Part of her wanted to start sobbing right there, right now. But the tears wouldn’t come, at least not yet. All she felt was that familiar hole being dug in her gut had finally bottomed out; the endless chasm was no longer filled with her constant self doubt, or the unbridled guilt of putting everyone’s job on the line, or the melancholy of her lonely and pathetic life. The chasm had gone dry, completely empty and hallow; she felt nothing.

“Penny?”

She had spaced out yet again, giving a thousand-yard stare at the dirty metallic floor of the Grizzco HQ, trying desperately to grasp at and gain an understanding of this feeling, or lack thereof.

“What did she say? What did Tara say to you just now?” His queries were becoming fueled with panic.

Teal boots entered her field of vision, she felt gloved hands clutching her own; blood still smeared across her palms like dried paint as the other’s fingers wrapped around hers. She looked up to meet Niall’s sepia eyes staring back at her; his cheery demeanor was uncharacteristically missing. Both of his brows curled up in unease, his cheeks raised to form a small and concerned squint, the corners of his lips tugged to a sullen frown.

“You can talk to me, ya know.”

“I’m okay.” She blurted out instantly, averting her gaze from Niall’s weary expression. Her robotic delivery of the phrase had him convinced she was, in fact, not okay.

“No, you’re-…” He paused to think of a better way to word this, rolling his thumb in a circle around the bloody palm of her limp, unmoving hand.

“I wanna help you out here. You always look so down after Tara talks to you. I don’t know what she’s been saying, but I can’t stand seein’ a friend like this.”

Penny remained voiceless, her green eyes widened at the word “friend,” and began shifting wildly to focus on literally anything besides him. _“Why does he keep calling me that? What have I ever done to make him think we’re that close?… Just keep saying you’re okay, he’s got to stop eventually.”_

“Really Niall, I’m alri-”

“Do you even see me as a friend?”

Her eyes shot back to meet his once more, her entire body frozen in place not unlike Mr. Grizz’s totem, her bloodsoaked fingers trembled and tensed in his grasp. Worried he might make her even more uncomfortable, Niall released her shaking, blood soaked hands and gave her some much needed space. 

_“Is this for eel? Does he sincerely want to be my friend?”_ She pondered. 

“It… it’s alright if you don’t, I get it. I can be loud, and overbearing, and I’m not all that great at my job. But I just can’t stand it when I see people getting put-down by others, especially when they can’t fight back. You’re a really nice girl, Penny, and I’d like to get to know you better. But I totally understand if you’re not comfortable being friends. I just figured I could try and help out, ya know?” Niall sniffled as a teardrop rolled down his cheek.

_“Why would he want to help me out- oh my Cod he’s completely serious.”_ Penny may be meek, but she’s not clueless. She can spot crocodile tears from a mile away, and that single tear trickling off his face was the genuine article: he honest-to-Cod wanted to be her friend.

He continued, “I thought if we’re gonna be at this job for the long run it wouldn’t hurt to meet eye to eye with everyone, ya know?” He paused for a second. “Everyone barring Tara, at this rate she might be a lost cause…” The corners of his lips pulled up in a weak grin. “And a huge bitch.”

That last comment flipped some kind of switch inside Penny; she audibly chuckled, something that she and Niall didn’t expect. She tried covering her mouth to keep the giggling down, but in what felt like a complete 180 of her demeanor just moments ago, she dissolved into a full howl of laughter. Confused and then worried at first, Niall eventually relaxed and decided to take this as a win.

“Hey, there she is!” He said in relieved delight.

Penny continued chortling to herself, clutching her sides as she reeled in hysterics over Niall’s slander against the “huge bitch” Tara. Despite the attempts to control herself, a flood of tears suddenly erupted from her eyes, trailing down her face like a waterfall and dripping onto the floor as she continued to snicker.

Needless to say, Niall’s demeanor shot back to unease, “Oh Cod, are you alright?!” he yelled, clutching his Grizzco cap in distress.

His plight was met without words as Penny continued laughing, choking back tears all the while. _“I don’t know."_ she responded in her head.

Whether this was a culmination of all the pent up emotions she’s had finally meeting their breaking points, or feverish enthusiasm over perhaps finding a real friend after what felt like forever, or just a painful guffaw at a funny joke; Penny felt **something.** It felt like a dam holding everything back had collapsed, letting a torrent of emotions flow through the debris, pouring into that bottomless hole digging away at her gut. The crushing emptiness inside her wasn’t so overpowering anymore; she was no longer shell-shocked from Tara’s verbal assault, and she was back to her old self.

After sitting down on a bench and taking a minute (or several) to calm down, she finally answered Niall’s second question. She purposefully avoided answering his first query regarding Tara’s vicious threat.

“Yes Niall, we can be friends.”

The lad shot across the bench, wrapping his arms tightly around the typically morose girl in a friendly embrace. Clearly this caught Penny by surprise when she let out a pained exhale from her friend’s bear hug.

The exuberant boy took quick note of her discomfort and released her from his deadly clutches, blurting out a quick, “Sorry.”

She quelled his worries with a casual wave of her hand. “Don’t worry about it.”

A glance at the clock revealed the time to be around 11:45 PM, Niall cursed to himself, darting off the bench and making a break for the locker room.

“I gotta go, my bro’s probably wondering where I am by now. I’ll catch up with you later Pen, you got my number!”

Confused at first, it took a moment for Penny to remember she indeed had all of her coworker’s numbers. Only now she now had reason to talk to one of them, outside of the express purpose of getting work details and pictures of the schedule.

Now she had a reason to text at least one person.

She gently waved him goodbye as he disappeared from the main lobby, and she was alone once again, but not for too long. Tara eventually trudged out of the girl’s locker room in her expensive and fresh Toni Kensa branded day clothes. A strange juxtaposition; someone already rolling in cash from news-broadcasted S+ Ranked Battles and sponsorships from companies like Zekko and Annaki, yet she declines full-time Turf contracts to work at Grizzco of all places. The dangerous, dirty and sleazy egg collecting company known for its shady recruitment commercials, unsafe business practices, and completely anonymous CEO. 

_“To each their own I guess? I’d never make it in the pro leagues even if I tried.”_ Penny capped out at B- back when she played. 

Tara continued to march through the main lobby to reach the front exit, giving one last sneer at her coworker on the bench before leaving. Penny smirked at Tara and giggled to herself, this out-of-character reaction left Tara puzzled and a bit miffed.

_“Huge bitch…”_

Taking another moment to collect herself, Penny let out a tremendous sigh; not one of fatigue or despondency, but one of relief. She was relieved to finally have that whole debacle with Tara over for now. Squid Jesus knows what’d happen if The Wipeout Crew indeed wiped out one more time this week. Penny really didn’t want to think about that however, she was more focused on the outcome of Niall’s second pep talk today.

_“So he really does want to be my friend…”_ She felt anxious for a myriad of reasons. Obviously she was concerned over Tara’s outburst and the inevitable fallout that would come of that later, and she was also worried about Niall. Clearly she didn’t want to disappoint him or drive him away, but there was still one more thing stirring inside that made her feel uneasy.

_“If I really want to make this friendship work, I can’t fuck it all up again.”_

A dark cloud of faint and murky memories nibbled and prodded at the back of her conscience. Bits and pieces of a recognizable apartment room different from her own, another person laughing alongside her, their face masked by the blackness of her subconscious. Vague impressions of a time she’s tried very hard to bury, but she could never truly kill.

_“Not like last time.”_

Before Penny could shoo away the unpleasant thoughts back into their graves, a glimpse of an all too familiar face flashed in her mind. A face that brought back fragments of a dull and heavy pain. She managed to erase the visage from her head, but the name… The name rang through her head like the toll of a bell; loud and cacophonous.

_“Not like Rosa.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy carp thank you all for being so patient. I did not mean for this chapter to take an additional week to finish, work among other things (totally not Splatfest lol) kept me busy. This is by far my longest chapter, and I'd like to continue making each chapter long and meaningful. 
> 
> Which brings me to a question for you, the readers: how do you feel about the smut warning? So far the story has incorporated nothing sexual in nature (and probably won't for a bit longer), and has been mostly focused on Penny and her plight. Should I just can the smut entirely and lower the content rating to Teen and Up? Or do you all want to stick with this for the long run and get the smut in later chapters? (This is a slow burn so this should be expected but I dunno, this is my first fic after all.) Please, leave a comment on how you guys feel on this topic.
> 
> Until next time, thanks for reading! It means a whole lot!


	6. Shower Thoughts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Penny takes a shower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is NSFW and very angsty. The content rating has been appropriately raised to Explicit.

Penny soon found herself alone in the girl’s locker room, just itching to tear off the blood stained uniform. The bands of pain that wrapped around each of her thighs at last found sweet relief once she ripped off her over-the-knee work boots. The teal gloves and boots supplied by Grizzco were designed to be watertight, as to keep all foreign ink off the body. _“Truth of the matter is, that doesn’t change anything when a Flyfish missile lands right on top of you.”_ The latex pieces were thrown onto the stone tile floor like garbage in an alley.

Her orange overalls were similarly tossed aside after inspecting the horror-movie-esque blood stain on the front. A stark and clear outline of a handprint, smeared and dragged downwards like a murder victim’s desperate and final thrash for help. The only thing being murdered would be Penny’s wallet once she buys a new pair of overalls. Grizzco only gives out the one uniform for free, and any replacement pieces are gonna cost a tentacle and a leg.

Now only left in a grey sports bra and black compression shorts Penny couldn’t help but a feel a little exposed, a slight draft from the air vents sent icy chills up her spine, making her shiver. Albeit no one was around to see, something about being half naked in a pseudo public area had psyched her out. A mirror being hung against a support pillar caught her gaze, displaying her half naked, slender body like a raunchy TV program playing to an audience of one. She's seen this program before, it sucked. Her A cup sports bra hugged her torso, giving a bit of form to her mostly flat chest. Penny never felt envious of the girls who were more ‘well off’ in that department, and the idea of body image had been lost to her for longer than she could remember. Besides, A cups are far more inexpensive than any variety of plus size bras.

Down below, her jet black spats clutched firmly at her hips and thighs, its dark color contrasting with her milky white legs, and the figure hugging design accentuating her firm bottom. The shorts were already too tight for her liking, but they were the only clean pair she could find in her mess of an apartment. If it weren’t for the cotton boyshorts being worn underneath she’d feel more akin to a sort of exhibitionist. Penny wouldn’t dare show off in any regard, be it through her personality or through her body, the less attention she drew to herself the better. She could hardly remember a time she wasn’t so afraid to let her freak flag fly.

Just under the bra, a deep purple lesion splotched her skin like a badge of shame. A reminder of her incompetency that wouldn’t go away for at least a week, if she was lucky. However a more permanent reminder lingered under the bandage above her eyebrow. The dark magenta bloodstain stared back at Penny’s reflection like an angry, evil eye. She hastily tore off the gauze wrap, dried blood ripping from her temple with a sickly peeling sound. The closed but dirty wound winked at the girl mockingly, reassuring her that this ugly mark on her body would remain for the rest of her miserable life.

A disheartened glance to her left showed the open showers, not a stall in sight to get at least a little privacy. Just being in her underwear already made Penny flustered, there’s no way in Hell she’d get naked and shower without some sort of cover. Even despite the scuffs of dirt and scrapes across her skin, or the heavy streaks of dried blood and tears marked down her face, or the throbbing discomfort trailing from head to toe… The more she looked at it the more appealing the shower seemed.

_"If I turn all the showers on, there should be enough steam to hide in. Grizzco’s water bill be damned, it’s probably within their budget.”_

Penny really needed this shower, it would ease the searing pain emanating from her ribs, and she wouldn’t have to look like a dirty vagabond on her train ride home. While grabbing a towel, a quick perimeter check was given to ensure not a soul was around - the coast was clear. She gingerly pulled her sports bra over her head, being careful not touch the bruise radiating pain below her ribs. She breathed in, her chest finally free from the confines of the snug garment. Her small, perky breasts experienced the full brunt of the bitter cold, her nipples going hard as if the chilly atmosphere were caressing them with an icy touch.

Quickly she squeezed her thumbs between her hips and the compression shorts that hugged them. Pulling her underwear down along with the spats and tossing them towards her locker, she was completely exposed for all to see. That is if there was anyone even in the building. She wouldn't exactly say her body was a symbol of pride, but she wasn't dissatisfied either. Her tight features and nimble frame let her slip away from swarms of Salmonids, or hide from the gaze of judgemental onlookers, unnoticed.

Her bare feet clapped against the stone tile floor as she maxed out the temperature and pressure on all of the shower heads. The scalding hot water didn’t phase her, matter of fact she thrived for long and hot showers. At home she tries to live frugally simply out of necessity, but piping hot showers are one luxury she can't afford not to have. It only took a few minutes for the entire room to fog up, Penny looking around nervously and covering her unmentionables the whole time. Now that she had been sufficiently obscured, she lowered her defenses and was finally able to at least try to enjoy this.

The steamy shower washed away all the blood and grime from her worn and jaded body, the muck pouring down the drain in a watery, dirty magenta fluid. The tension in her muscles eased as soon as she made contact with the water. Much like the rain from earlier, the piping hot drizzle cleared the girl’s skin, and her mind. She didn’t have a care in the world, aside from someone potentially walking in on her buck naked. Aided by the white noise of the shower heads her mind was left to wander.

_“What was the deal with Niall today?”_

Not that she wasn’t grateful to finally have someone to call ‘friend’ after two years and some change. She just couldn’t wrap her head around why Niall was so adamant to be friends in the first place. _“Not like I have an electrifying personality. Kind of the opposite, really.”_ Penny knew she had a knack of driving people away somehow, it’s happened all her life. She’s like a bad luck charm, and it was absolutely torturous to wonder when she would inevitably push her own luck with Niall as well.

__

__

She wanted so desperately not to get stuck in this train of thought, but why wouldn’t she? Every time without fail her attempts at companionship ended up in shambles, and her one shot at a meaningful relationship blew up in her face in the most spectacular way it probably could. Those hazy memories in the back of her head were obscured by a fog not unlike the one flooding the locker room. The more she tried to ignore them the more vivid the recollections became. That same apartment room from before, bright red walls with an alabaster roof surrounded Penny like a prison cell. Sat besides her on the matching crimson sheet of a bed, a girl remarking sweet nothings or bitter somethings back to her. The girl’s voice distorted by a wall of guilt, visage hidden by clouds of pain; these details were not lost from a lapse of memory, but from Penny wanting so desperately not to see that face or hear that voice ever again.

The details were becoming more and more clear as another agonizing memory crawled back up from the depths known as her subconscious. Long ago this memory brought cozy and pleasant feelings, it was all peaches and cream… at the time. Now all this memory did was break her heart like a dagger through a Vampire Squid’s chest. All but the girl's face had been hidden as she passed a handmade bracelet to Penny. Her voice becoming more distinct, and her words comprehensible. “You’re welcome, it’s the least I can do! After all, we've been together for…” Penny didn't want to hear it. However long they were together didn't mean anything anymore. The sound of her voice was cut short as a different memory pulled itself into focus.

With this new memory came a familiar and visceral discomfort. Unpleasant premonitions similar to how she just felt while getting undressed, but a hundred times worse. No, a thousand times worse. A guilty carnal sensation that made her stomach churn like she ate old leftovers from Crusty Sean’s food truck. The setting was the same, albeit a tad darker than before, nighttime; the same bloody red walls and same bloody red bedsheet, and that same stark white ceiling taking up most of her view. This time the girl was on top of her, undressed and straddling over Penny’s hips to the rhythm of an erotic melody. Penny herself was laid completely bare, barring the same bracelet from before. Pink and red ropes of paracord masterfully woven together to form a band of little hearts and squids. All the while as she was being grinded on, Penny’s expression read only of lustful glee. Back then, Penny was enjoying every last second of the sexual indulgence, but nowadays Penny wasn't so keen on brooding over old baggage that felt worse than anything the Salmonids at work could dish out. She looked up to see the impression of an ambiguous smile as the blurry-faced Inkling whispered something into her ear; probably a heartfelt admittance of her love for Penny, or a downright dirty declaration of how hard she was gonna fuck her. Details missing because either way it went, Penny would sooner **forget** everything, **splat** herself and **rot** in a ditch five miles out of town.

All she really wanted to do was scream her lungs out. She wanted to bash her own head open so she could rip and tear these memories out of her blighted mind, and throw them back into the vile pit they came from. She needed an outlet, knuckles and fingers going white as she clenched her fists with such animosity they hurt. Her fingernails digging into her skin, almost ready to draw blood. Everything hurt. It all hurt so fucking bad, and all she could do was lash out on Rosa, the girl on top of her. The girl she used to call friend, but who’s relationship had so much more to it than the title let on. The relationship that went up in smoke all thanks to another one of Penny’s catastrophic fuckups.

_“Fuck it all, fuck everything!”_

Penny was brought back to reality by exasperation from her lungs and the fiery pain of steaming hot water pouring into a fresh wound on her knuckles. Out of pure rage, or anguish, or a guilty desire to hurt herself because she deserved it, Penny had full-force punched the metallic shower pipe. Magenta blood drained from her hand faster than even the shower could put out, visibly torn skin digging into a metal bolt, causing her already churning stomach to twist in disgust and fear. She shot her head in the opposite direction, tears streaming down her face almost as quickly as the blood pouring out her hand.

_“Just don’t look at it, I'll be fine…”_

_“… Will I, though? Is any of this really fine?”_

She peeked down at the shower floor; blood, dirt and tears went down the drain along with any hopes she had of recovery.

_“… Guess not.”_

And here Penny thought she was just about done getting all cleaned up. It certainly served as a welcome distraction from the shitshow her subconscious was pulling up moments ago. She’d take bloody knuckles and broken fingers any day of the fucking week over reliving that nightmare.

Not like her fingers were broken, they were still articulating fine. They sure as hell hurt like they’ve been smashed with a hammer, though. _“What’s that now? Three debilitating injuries in less than five hours? Must be a new record.”_

She kept her gaze from the unsightly wound, letting the bleeding ease up a little before turning off all the showers. A Grizzco branded first aid kit adorned the mirrored wall above the sinks. As Penny reached for the kit, all the while dripping blood into the basin, she was met with her own reflection in the fogged up mirror. The image was blurred and distorted by the mist, reminiscent of an artist's freshly painted portrait that had been smeared by a grabby child's hand. Whichever artist decided this would be a good picture to paint totally had it coming.

One gauze wrap around her hand and a bandage over her temple later, Penny was looking fit to enter into a nudist’s kickboxing tournament. A quick change into her simple day clothes threw that notion out the window. This whole day went from bad to worse in just a matter of hours, and it still wasn’t over. She’d have to endure the hour and a half long train ride from Inkopolis back to her home in the Mollusk District. It was around the stroke of midnight, and the train would be departing in about ten minutes

_“Better get a move on, missing my train and being stuck here would just be the icing on this already rotten cake.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MY DEEPEST APOLOGIES FOR TAKING ALMOST A MONTH FOR THIS CHAPTER! The holiday season was so busy, I'll try to regulate the update schedule to at least twice a month, but don't quote me on that. Hopefully you all enjoy this incredibly angsty chapter! Don't worry, Penny will catch a break soon here. Probably.
> 
> Unfortunately the "surprise" I had in store for this chapter is still a work in progress, but it will definitely be finished by next chapter! Thank you so much for reading and sticking around, here's hoping the new Explicit rating won't drive too many of you away.


	7. Morning Message

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Penny wakes up after receiving a text message.

The droning buzz of a digital alarm clock attacked the silence in Penny’s room. She tried ignoring the alarm, hoping it would eventually die out and she could return to her slumber. Unfortunately the barrage on her eardrums continued until she begrudgingly reached to the side of her bed to disarm the clock. Through hazy and tired eyes, the red digits on the clock flared 10:01 AM. The tired girl considered going back to sleep, but the pitter-patter of heavy rain against her window was enough to keep her awake for the moment. After sitting upright and rubbing her eyes, she finally noticed something.

“Wait, when did I get back to my apartment?” She mumbled to herself aloud.

Her eyes darted back and forth between the dark and gloomy window and the cheery pastel pink of the opposite wall. Piles of clothes were strewn about the floor, unused cosmetics and useless knickknacks adorned her dresser and bookshelf respectively, her autographed Squid Sisters concert poster still hanging over her desk; confirming she was indeed in her own apartment. She was tucked in under her neon ‘Squidvader’ fleece blanket and matching pastel pink bed sheets on a single-wide bed hugging the corner of her room. Yeah this was all familiar, but she didn’t even remember walking through the front door of the apartment. Her memory of last night was a little fuzzy, but it was there. She just had to rack her addled and tired brain a little. 

_“There was work, I think I hit my head, or tripped or something. Tara yelled at me, per usual. Probably about my ‘performance’ or ‘work ethic’ or whatever. And I think Niall mentioned something important too.”_ Nothing of note was coming to mind, but she knew something was up, yawning and stretching all the while in hopes of getting the cogs in her brain spinning.

She rubbed her jet black eyelids once more in an effort to wake up, scratching at her hair and rubbing her head caused the latex strip of a band-aid across her temple to scrape against a bloody gauze wrap around her knuckles. Penny took a moment to investigate the curious wrap around her hand. Just like whiplash from colliding with a Salmonid Scrapper, it hit her. A eureka moment, all of yesterday’s events were laid out in her head. The wipeout at Marooner’s Bay, Tara’s outburst and vicious threat, Niall’s sincere offer for friendship, the shower. 

_“Cod, that fucking shower.”_ Not wanting to tread back into that mindset so early in the morning, she shooed any thoughts out of her head.

Pieces of yesterday’s puzzle continued filling the gaps while she recalled it. After the harrowing experience at Grizzco’s locker room, Penny grabbed her pay stub from the rewards booth and booked it for the train station, catching the last ride to The Mollusk District for the night. She had dozed off in the mostly empty car but it was no big deal, her body had developed an almost circadian rhythm when napping on the train. Waking up just before her stop, she made it off without a hitch. The brief 15 minute walk from the station to her apartment was a cold and wet one, the rain from earlier hadn’t let up and only seemed to be getting worse. Glancing out her window right now seemed to affirm that notion. Penny made a mental note to buy an umbrella next time she went shopping.

“It hasn’t rained this hard in years. At least I made it home okay.” She said, pulling off her sheets and scooching off the bed. Her ribs resonated with a regrettably familiar pain until she slowed down and eased off the bed at a sea snail’s pace. Shambling her way to the bathroom, she gazed upon the mirror. A similar display to the one from last night; half naked in her plain underwear, blood soaked bandages and bruised ribs. But, with the addition of a messy bed head and eye crust galore. She opened the medicine cabinet in the hopes of finding some ibuprofen or aspirin, maybe even some oxycodone if she was lucky. Of course, she was never **that** lucky. The pills would make the pain go away for awhile, but much to her dismay the cabinet was emptier than a trigger happy Squidkid’s ink tank. Another item for the mental shopping list.

A quick wash up later and she was back in her room, contemplating whether or not to go back to sleep. A small blue light blinked from her phone, indicating she had received a text message. Curious as to who the hell would be texting her this early, Penny moseyed over to her warm and cozy bed. Easing down and lying on her back as to avoid crippling rib pain, she reached across to the nightstand and withdrew the phone from its charger.

Unlocking the device revealed her wallpaper was of The Squid Sister’s own Callie Cuttlefish, modeling for what could only be described as a devilishly risqué photoshoot. The exact name of the company had been forgotten to her, Playsquid or Squidboy or some other trashy copyright logo watermarked the corner of the wallpaper as the dark-haired half of the Squid Sisters posed suggestively in frilly black lingerie that left little to the imagination. Penny had this photo as her wallpaper for a few weeks now, after seeing it first on the covers of dirty magazines at the convenience store… and subsequently buying them. 

Penny caught herself lusting over the salacious image, and although she was half tempted to retrieve said magazines from under her mattress, she quelled those thoughts and returned focus to the task at hand. A quick swipe revealed a new message from Niall, around half an hour ago.

“Hey Pen, you up?” The message read.

A quick glance at the alarm clock, 10:12 AM. _“Still not too late to go back to sleep…”_ her mind teased.

She was feeling reasonably awake after washing her face, enough so at least text for a while. However, the girl was painfully aware of how much can go wrong during a brief exchange over text, and opening this can of worms by talking to Niall was an unnerving proposition. A heavy weight loomed overhead, anxious voices compelling her to just ignore the text and hide in her room for eternity. Would the inevitable soul-crushing remorse of losing yet another friend be worth the fleeting moments of joy and happiness? Her unease was just about to manifest into a tidal wave of negative thoughts, until she remembered just how wholeheartedly Niall wanted to be friends.

_“It wasn’t me begging for friendship, it was him. He actually wants this”_

That reassurance that none of this was a sick and cruel joke, but in fact a real shot at friendship seemed to alleviate her worries.

_“He wants this… and so do I, damnit.”_

Despite everything that could go wrong like it has time and time again, Penny decided she’d go out on a limb and partake in the text conversation anyways. She trusted Niall enough not to ruin her emotionally if things went south. Penny focused back on the phone, fingers dancing over the digital keyboard to weave a message.

“i am now, whats up” she replied. Syntax wasn’t a concern of hers when it came to digital communication, and she had disabled autocorrect to keep her aloof tone consistent. Whether it was a bad habit from a younger age on the family computer, or an illusion to keep the tone of her messages vague is a question even she couldn’t answer.

A minute later Niall replied. “Good morning! You got any plans today?”

She chuckled to herself, of course not. “nope”

The bouncing ellipses indicated he was typing up a response as Penny stared at them incessantly. _“There’s no way he wants to hang out this early.”_

“Wanna hang out?”

“Shit.”

The three dots returned to their rhythmic bouncing, another text bubble appeared under the previous one.

“We can go to Arowana Mall and hit the food court.”

It’s been at least a few months since she’s been to the mall, the last time was during one of her dwindling Turf War matches before she quit outright. Reaching back for the nightstand she snatched her check stub and glared at the bottom.

“Only 6,000 for the whole day?! That’s barely enough for a decent haul from the grocery store, let alone a mall trip.”

She stared and stared at the tantalizing message from Niall; sure it would be a nice change to get out of the apartment and hit the mall, but a distinct lack of money and self confidence made the idea considerably less appealing.

“sorry, dont think i can afford a mall trip based on last nights pay”

“That’s fair. Gotta admit, 6,000 is a bit cheap even for Grizzco.”

Another message from Niall, “We can just hit the food court then, my treat.”

 _“What is wrong with this guy? Is he this nice to everybody?”_ She still couldn’t wrap her head around it, but it was too early in the morning to ask.

“you dont have to do that”

“Don’t worry about it, really! What kinda friend would I be to offer brunch if I couldn’t pay for it?”

 _“Fair point.”_ She thought. 

10:19 AM. A quick check of the train schedule showed the next train to Inkopolis departs close to 10:50. Returning to her texting app, her fingers circled just over the keyboard, contemplating if this is what she really wanted. Did she really want to start and kindle a new friendship here, only for it to probably be blown out by her own hubris later?

Penny gave deep gaze into the red inferno of her alarm clock, 10:20 AM. Another minute went by, 10:21. She observed the magenta stained gauze over her knuckles. 10:22. She picked at the adhesive end of the band-aid stuck to her temple. 10:23. Her fingers trailed over the dark bruise on her ribs, radiating that dull sensation across her body yet again.

All the wounds over Penny’s body served as a testament to how much she needed to change something. She could endure the pain alone, but only for so long until it outright kills her. She needed at least one friend to help her heal.

It was about halfway to 10:24 that her mind was made up and she said “Fuck it.” Her fingers returned to tapping at the screen with fervor.

“good point, thank you so much for the offer. want to meet at inkopolis square around noon?”

“Yeah, sounds great! See ya then! :D”

Penny hesitated, letting the fact that she just scheduled a hangout sesh with her coworker Niall Cass sink in.

“see ya :P”

If Penny was going to die in the near future, she’d predict the cause of death would be from either a work related incident involving the Salmonids, being murdered by none other than Tara Conch, or just a plain caffeine induced heart attack. However, if she indeed was going to die she wouldn’t want to be totally alone. She needed at least one friend before she kicked the bucket, and Niall seemed like a pretty good bet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH MY COD I AM SO SORRY FOR BEING INACTIVE FOR LIKE THREE MONTHS?! I THINK I MIGHT HAVE SEASONAL DEPRESSION AND IT SUCKS. I'll try my hardest not to go AWOL like that again, but shit happens. I'm finally back at it with a short chapter here though, I promise the next one will be much longer and much more eventful! And by then I should have a cover for the fic finished up! Thank you all for sticking with me this long!


	8. Stranger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Penny heads to the train station and meets a new face.

Cold feet slowly clambered against the tile floor of Penny’s dirty kitchenette. A pit stop at the mini fridge was soon followed by the loud, hissing snap of an aluminum tab, punctuating the white noise of the rain hitting the windows. A dwindling supply of MakoMart’s discount energy drinks occupied most of the space in her mini fridge; from the diverse medley of flavors she could choose from, every single can was peach flavored.

 _“Can’t beat the classics.”_ She thought half naked in her dark and dingy apartment, chugging the acidic beverage in place of a proper morning meal per usual.

Stained dishes and half full mugs littered the countertop like Ink on a Turf War field after a vicious battle. Empty crushed cans overflowed from the lid of the recycling bin, tempting to spill over onto the tile. She always told herself she’d get around to cleaning up the place but that day sure hasn’t arrived yet, and probably won’t for some time. A quick glance at her microwave’s clock read 00:00 AM.

_“Oh right, still gotta fix that.”_

Scooping her phone from the edge of the counter, the time read 10:30. A few muscle memory taps on the screen brought her to the train schedule for the day.

_“Next train to Inkopolis is at… 10:48.”_

A worried glance back to the top-right corner of the screen. 10:31 AM.

“Shit!” She yelled, harshly planting her fizzling energy drink on the counter and making a mad dash for her dresser.

Tearing open drawer after drawer, she threw on whatever clothes she saw first. A navy striped long sleeve, black nylon leggings, pink knee-high socks, and a conveniently matching pink hoodie. In light of still not owning an umbrella, the hoodie would have to do for cover against the onslaught of rain. She snatched her clutch purse and phone, shoving them both into her hoodie pocket before clumsily slipping on her rain boots and bolting out the door. The brass hinges squealed painfully as the door was slammed behind her in a rush; the lock giving an affirming click.

Immediately the forceful rain pelted her like a hail of Splatling fire. Pulling the hoodie overhead alleviated the problem marginally. Her boots sank into deep rain puddles as she jogged through the endless stretch of pavement towards the station. Potholes adorned the shoulders of the road, cracks riddled the sidewalks like deep scars. The rain relentlessly assaulting Penny and the terrain around her, precipitating so densely it became hard to see what was only a few yards ahead. Flashes of lightning struck indiscriminately as loud thunderclaps boomed through the atmosphere and shook Penny to her core.

She pulled out her phone to check the time but to her surprise she had received another text message from Niall.

“I probably should have asked earlier, but is it okay if a friend of mine tags along?” It read.

Confused, Penny squinted at the message and racked her brain, trying to figure out who else would be joining them.

_“It can’t seriously be one of our co-workers, can it? I don’t think Basil even likes me, and Tara is completely out of the question. No way she’d be seen hanging out with us outside of work.”_

Distracted by the mystery of who Niall’s friend could be, Penny failed to see the figure she inevitably crashed into. Her phone flew out of her hands onto the waterlogged sidewalk as a tangled mess of limbs and tentacles fell onto the pavement. When Penny recovered from the impact, her tired lime-green eyes were met with unfamiliar bright pink ones, backgrounded by deep reddish-bronze skin and short mint green hair. The unacquainted girl’s lush eyelashes fluttered like a bat’s wings, her teeth bared in pain and encompassed by luscious lips with an almost unnoticeable scar adorning the right of the bottom lip.

Penny was completely entranced by this girl’s pretty face, until she finally took note of the rather compromising position the two were in; the stranger was laying right on top of Penny, almost straddling her. It was like something out of a bad fanfiction she would read online late at night. Funny as hell, it was the most horrible thing she could think of. Despite the cold and harsh downpour, she was getting noticeably warm. The stranger finally regained her bearings and took quick note of Penny's uncomfortable visage, promptly lifting herself off the poor girl.

“Oh my Cod I’m so sorry, are you okay?!” She inquired.

Penny didn’t have an answer. Her mind was overloaded by just how fetching this stranger was, brain cells firing at a mile-a-minute and asking all sorts of vain questions to herself.

_“Is she from here? I’ve never seen her until today. What’s she doing out in this weather? Cod she’s so pretty, I wonder if she lives in the same complex as me-”_

“Hey, are you alright? You need some help up? This rain is pretty nasty.” 

She offered her hand to the downtrodden girl. Penny contemplated her offer, the stranger’s kindness was reminiscent of Niall’s own caring demeanor. She opened her mouth to speak, but a well defined ineptitude at socializing put a quick halt to that plan.

“…”

Her mind was drawing a complete blank. What could she say to her? _“Sorry my dumb ass bumped into you. By the way you’re hot as hell.”_ She glanced back and forth, hoping to avoid eye contact. The street corner turning to the station was only two blocks down, which reminded Penny at the task at hand.

 _“Oh shit I still gotta make it to the station.”_ She cursed internally.

She quickly grabbed the girl’s hand to be lifted up. A chill went down her spine as the girl’s dexterous fingers wrapped around her palm tightly. Also shooting down her spine and well, everywhere, was a wave of pain blasting her nerves.

_“Right now is not the time to whine over bruised ribs.”_

“Uh, sorry about bumping into you… Thanks for the help, though.” Penny stammered.

“Hey, no problem! I’d love to stay and chat but I gotta make it to the station.”

 _“I’d love to stay and chat too, really.”_ Penny swooned. She couldn’t help being so enamored this girl, especially with her getup. She was wearing a black low-cut tank top under an opened leather bomber jacket with a fur trim around the collar. Frayed white denim shorts over opaque black tights, with a brand new tear at the right knee, and punk black boots finished off the ensemble. Penny wasn't a fashionista by any metric, but she was loving her style.

The girl started making her way towards the station until she came upon Penny’s phone. Upon closer inspection, a sizable crack on the screen marked the top right corner.

“Aw dammit, is this your phone?”

Almost completely forgetting about the thing, Penny recalled she indeed dropped her phone. Penny retrieved it from the stranger who apologized profusely the whole time.

“Jeez, I’m sorry! I should’ve watched where I was going. I’ll make it up to you somehow! I promise I’ll find you later, but I really need to get to the train now!”

“Hey, uh, I’m going to the station too…” Penny mumbled quietly.

Before Penny could finish her sentence the girl left for the station. Like that, she had disappeared as quickly as she arrived; leaving Penny dumbfounded and standing in the rain like a fool. She took another moment to collect her thoughts and inspect her phone; a small crack on the top right corner but thankfully no functional damage. Penny continued her trek to the station with confusion in her head, rain pelting her body, and a lingering magenta hue on her cheeks.

Not so conveniently the crack on her phone sprawled across the time display, but she was able to make out 10:42. If she didn’t book it now (while keeping an eye out for more pedestrians to collide into) she’d be toast. Her one shot at making this friendship with Niall work would be spent before it was even loaded into the gun.

Meanwhile as she trekked through the brick and mortar alleys of the Mollusk District, her brain was left to ponder about this encounter.

 _“Why didn’t I push her off earlier? Did she mean to stay on top of me like that? Was she enjoying it? I'm not complaining, she's prettier than anyone I’ve seen around here, but why did that go on for as long as it did? I kinda wish she stuck around and went to the train with me, maybe I could have caught a better glimpse of those tights. Her legs were REALLY nice…”_ She found her thoughts delving into a spectrum of perversion.

_“…Wait no no no, don't start crushing on this stranger you just bumped into 2 minutes ago, you freak!”_ She argued to herself. 

While her internal conflict roared on, she reached the train station entrance with only a few minutes to spare. Finally escaping the rain’s assault from above, she made her way underground to the ticket booth. The station was old and murky as it had been around for years, before the Great Turf War. Its antiquity showed; stains and leaks on the ceiling and linoleum floor were complimented by tall rusted copper gates, dim yellow light fixtures would flicker sporadically as northbound Inklings and Octolings walked through the dingy corridors. The granite walls had decades of dirt, grime and waste staining it like a thick paint, maintenance closets with dents and mysterious splatters punctuated the narrow hallways to the boardwalk. Penny’s been through here a couple hundred times, considering she's lived in the Mollusk District on her own for over two years now… When she thinks about it, it wasn't so long ago that her life became as messy as this station. 

It was cheaper to buy your ticket at the terminal’s kiosk rather than on board, so Penny tried making a habit of arriving early to save precious cash. However, to her surprise the line to said kiosk was packed; the morning work rush of folks trying to save a few bucks would definitely keep her late. Sadly, she’d have to bite the bullet and pay the extra three dollars on board. Making her way down the grimy hallways and passing other Inklings, she kept an eye out sort of hoping she would run into that mystery girl again.

 _“I could at least tell her not to worry about paying me back.”_ Penny told herself, all the while knowing that was just a bullshit justification only to see that pretty face again. 

Penny finally arrived at the boardwalk, the trains were stationed underground but would incline back to surface level as they departed. With only two minutes to spare she went towards the back of the train, preferring the designated quiet cars over the noisier ones at the front. As she went down the catwalk towards the back she could see inside: the train was packed to the brim with Inklings, the Monday work rush made sure the trains were running back and forth all day. Mollusk District was primarily a housing town, as all the hangout spots and work locations worth a damn are up north in Inkopolis. After sifting through a few of the full capacity quiet cars, to her delight Penny found an empty two-seater which she would happily claim as her own for the ride.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOWIE SORRY FOR THE BIG HIATUS AGAIN! Work has been kicking my butt with extra hours, but I'm doing alright! I don't plan to quit writing this any time soon, but if I do I'll definitely let it be known rather than go MIA for months and months without a peep. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	9. Mutuals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Penny is woken up a little early from her nap on the train to Inkopolis.

The northbound train engines fired to life and the locomotive chugged forward as it slowly inched up the ramped tunnel towards the surface. Despite a few hours of not-so-great sleep Penny was still markedly tired, especially since her body was trying to recuperate from her ensemble of injuries. Being splatted seriously takes its toll on an Inkling’s body. Instead of being just a minor setback to a Turf War player’s ink output or a Grizzco wage-slave’s quota, the experience is often more painful than most Inklings would let on; throbbing sensations in the area the Inkling was attacked follows suit after the adrenaline rush of a Turf match wears off. Some Inklings who are splatted particularly frequently get phantom pains for days after their last respawn. In Penny’s case the whole body being obliterated caused waves of burning pain to radiate all over from just below her ribs. 

To ease her pain and kill some time she decided to take a nap. It wasn’t uncommon for her to sleep on the train, Inkopolis was the last stop so it was impossible to miss. Not like she had any other way to kill an hour and a half, messing around on her phone could provide only so much entertainment and would eat up a lot of the battery. Leaning against the window, locking her focus on passing lights in the dark foreboding tunnel as the train departed, Penny’s vision blurred while she dozed off on yet another train ride to Inkopolis.

Her nap didn’t last very long.

She jumped when she was woken up, the feeling of another body occupying the seat next to her ripped Penny from her descent into deep slumber. Glancing through the window and observing the rainy downpour and familiar scenery, she could tell the train had only been going for a few minutes. Shifting her focus from the gloomy outside to the train’s window itself, the reflection revealed the occupant of her adjacent seat was an Inkling girl with sable skin, pink eyes and minty green hair.

_“No fucking way…”_

Penny turned with a start to the girl next to her, eyes going wide after seeing that pretty face for a second time, the scar on the girl’s lip shifted as she yelped.

“Oh, sorry, didn’t mean to wake you up!”

The strongest energy drinks at MakoMart couldn’t wake her up with as much potency as the girl’s gorgeous face. Before the mystery girl could continue, a nondescript passenger gave a loud “Shhh!” in response to her exclamation. The girl quickly gave a dirty look in the direction of the provocateur, and lowered her volume as she continued.

“I told you I’d find you again! Sorry about earlier, I was walking to the station and just totally spaced off. I didn’t even see or hear you coming, the rain was pouring down so hard, and after we fell you looked really uncomfortable and I just wasn’t sure what to do so I…” She stopped herself, Penny still looking at her like she'd seen a ghost. “You okay there?”

_“Did this girl seriously seek me out, sit next to me, and decide to wait till I woke up so she could apologize for something that isn’t even her fault?”_

After a moment. the infatuated lesbian finally snapped out of it, deciding that staring at this girl like a piece of meat wouldn’t be a good way to keep the conversation going. She replied, “Oh, um yeah I’m okay. Just a bit tired… I’m sorry about earlier too,” 

She pulled her phone out to demonstrate. “I was reading a text, so I didn't see you walking ahead.” She glanced down at the girl’s leg, not to admire it but to look at the tear in her tights and bloody patch on her knee. “Sorry about your leg, are you alright?”

“Forget my leg, is your phone working?” The girl pointed to the familiar crack splintered across the corner of the screen.

“Oh, uh, yeah, it still works fine.” She confirmed the screen's functionality by dragging down from that corner to unlock her phone. It hadn't even occurred to Penny that her wallpaper of Callie’s Squidboy-or-whatever lingerie photoshoot was only adding fuel to this awkward fire of a conversation. It took a full second or two for Penny to process what exactly she had just done: shown a complete stranger her phone wallpaper of a well known pop idol modeling half naked in lacey black lingerie. Her eyes went wide with embarrassment at her lack of self-awareness, and she was prepared for the inevitable backlash.

“Callie, huh. I'm more of a Team Marie girl myself.” The stranger said with a grin, amused at Penny's eye-candy background.

Penny was speechless. _“Oh Cod this is so weird I just showed this stranger my lewd wallpaper and she's making jokes about it. Is she not even a bit creeped out?”_

Said stranger took quick note of Penny’s pink tinted cheeks and gave a chuckle. “Hey, don't be so embarrassed. I'd totally have Marie as my background if she modeled for Playsquid. This is between you and me, but I've got a huge crush on her.”

 _“So it was Playsquid.”_ Penny took a mental note, the girl's comment not doing much to help put out the fire on her cheeks. _“Good to know I'm not the only girl around here fawning over the Squid Sisters, I guess?”_

While Penny was at a loss for words for the n’teenth time, the girl laughed loudly and nudged her, “I'm only teasing! Don’t get so flush!”

Another passenger gave a loud, “Shhh!” The minty-haired Inkling returned an irritated “SHHH!” of her own.

Penny gave a small giggle while the hot tempered girl continued the mostly one-sided conversation. “I'm sorry about your phone though, I gotta make it up to you somehow.”

“Oh, you don't have to do that. It still works just fine.”

“But we bumped into each other and it fell. I wouldn't feel right if I didn't pay you back for it somehow.”

“Really, you don’t need to worry about it. I'm okay.” Penny half-lied. 

She wasn't okay, she was already hardcore crushing on this rando she met like fifteen minutes ago. Moreso, she actually didn't want the girl to feel obligated to pay her back for the negligible damage to her phone; Penny bumped into her first after all, it objectively was her own fault.

“Puh-lease! I’m meeting up with a friend and his co-worker at the mall in Inkopolis, you could tag along and I can treat you to brunch.”

“Huh, funny you mention that because I’m actually meeting up with a friend at the food court. I think he also mentioned something about bringing one of his own friends along.” Penny replied.

“Maybe we can all hang out as a big ol’ group!” The girl tried to exclaim quietly.

Penny chuckled nervously. She never fit in well with crowds, ever. Even during Splatfests she would abstain from the main rabble of Inklings and Octolings thrashing and partying around, favoring the small crowd of her rapidly dwindling friend group. Always the quiet and distant one, she might have bitten off more than she can chew if she was going to end up stuck with around five other people today. Maybe she could just pretend to get lost in a Yacht Topic and sneak away while no one is looking.

“Umm, here. Let me see if my friend is okay with that.” Penny mumbled, fingers dancing across the screen to Niall’s text chat.

As she opened the keyboard to begin typing, she noticed the girl glancing over and scrutinously reading something on the text screen with a raised brow.

 _“Hey, you’re really hot and all, but it’s kinda rude to straight up read someone’s text conversation.”_ Penny sneered internally.

Instinctively she turned her phone slightly away from the girl, but the stranger intervened.

“Wait, hold on. Was their name Niall?”

Penny’s face went from minor frustration to confusion. “...Yes?”

“Niall Cass? Green hair, brown eyes, works at Grizzco?”

Penny was even more puzzled, was Niall just popular or was this girl the friend Niall was referring to in his texts?

“Uhh, yeah. I’m meeting him and a friend at the food court. Are you…”

Before she could even finish her sentence the girl giggled loudly in excitement. “Oh my Cod!! You’re the new friend Niall was talking about! I can’t believe we bumped into each other and got onto the same train car, like what are the freaking odds?!”

Several passengers glared to the back of the train, all shushing very loudly. The girl was too ecstatic to care, reaching out for her phone and opening the camera. Penny was embarrassed from all the negative attention of the train passengers, but also worried as to why Niall’s friend was opening her camera.

Without warning she wrapped an arm around Penny’s shoulders and got in **very** close for a selfie. “Niall is gonna FREAK when he sees this!”

Taken aback from the sudden arm around her shoulders and cheek-to-cheek contact, Penny was completely unprepared for the selfie. Her flushed cheeks and confused look on her face made for an admittedly amusing picture, but Penny was genuinely concerned if anyone would eventually catch on to how much she’s into this girl. 

_“Maybe I’m just overthinking it, but hopefully Niall doesn’t notice when he gets this impromptu selfie.”_

“Okay okay, sorry about all of that! I’m just stoked to know we’re mutuals with Niall. I think he mentioned your name, it was Penny, am I getting that right?”

Hearing her say her name out loud was almost surreal. Considering this girl isn’t just a hot stranger, but mutual friends with Niall was surreal in its own right.

_“Feels kinda late to be getting to formalities like exchanging names and stuff, but better late than never.”_

“Uh, yup. That’s me, Penny Pitaya… And you are?”

The girl stuck out a hand, the same hand she used to help poor battered and bruised Penny off the wet pavement earlier. Again, a little late for formalities like handshakes and ass-pats (although they wouldn't be unwelcome), but Penny accepted it without much hesitation.

“The name’s Mitzi. Mitzi Lulas.”

 _“What a name.”_ Penny cooed in her head. The handshake lasted a little shorter than Penny would have hoped for, but she wasn’t going to complain.

Mitzi pulled out some earbuds from her bomber jacket and plugged them into her phone. “I don’t wanna keep you up for too long since you were napping earlier. We can talk some more once we get to Inkopolis and head to the mall together!”

Penny was certain she couldn’t fall asleep, but she’d give it a try anyways. Also maintaining a steady conversation with Mitzi for the next hour or so in the designated quiet car didn’t seem feasible, especially if the already agitated passengers had anything to say about it.

“Um, alright, sounds good! Be sure to wake me up if I’m still out by the time we get there.”

Mitzi giggled, “I’m guessing you were on Team Night Owl for that one Splatfest?”

“That’s right. You?”

“Night Owl of course! Ya know all the freaks like myself come out at night.” She said with a sarcastic hiss towards the end. 

Penny chuckled and admired Mitzi’s attitude and humor. The minty-haired Inkling put on her earbuds and leaned back into the seat, while Penny turned around and peered out the window. The gloomy mist and heavy downpour washed out all the color of the scenery, brief flashes of lightning brought the color back just only for a moment before the light dissipated. Not so different from how Penny saw everything; brief flashes of joy and life over a dull and empty void that are gone as soon as they arrive. Funny how good she had gotten at hiding her existential dread from hot strangers and friendly acquaintances, but if only she could hide it from herself.

It was settled; she absolutely could not under any circumstances fuck up this hangout. Her chances of getting close to Mitzi or Niall would end up in a train wreck if she mucked it up in some way. Niall and Mitzi were Penny’s last two bastions of hope, and by Cod she wasn’t going to let her own hubris ruin that again.

She shut her eyes and leaned against the window; trying not to focus on the negative thoughts always looming overhead, or on her obvious attraction towards Mitzi. Instead, just letting the pitter-patter of the rain and the low rumble of the thunder lull her back into some much needed sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AS YOU CAN SEE, I AM NOT DEAD!
> 
> HEY FOLKS, SORRY THIS TOOK LITERALLY FOREVER TO FINISH BUT HERE'S CHAPTER 9. I might be a bit rusty from the inactivity but hopefully I can get back into the swing of things soon here, as always don't quote me on that though! I hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
